A few days ago
Why do we say the year as “two thousand __” instead of “twenty-0__”?
Before 2000, we said “nineteen ninety-nine”, not “one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine”. But ever since 2000, I haven’t heard people change “nineteen” to “twenty”–instead we say “two thousand ___”. Why do we do that? And are we going to keep saying it that way when it becomes 2010, or finally switch to “twenty-ten”?
Top 4 Answers
A few days ago
Favorite Answer
Good question!! It may cash out of referring to the year after 1999 as “the year two-thousand” and not simply “two-thousand”. Maybe if it had been called “twenty-hundred” like “nineteen-hundred”, “twenty-oh-…” would’ve followed more naturally. I have noticed some people say “twenty-oh-seven”, but somehow it sounds odd in a way that “nineteen-oh-seven” doesn’t. If you feel like going out on a limb, you could always try starting a “twenty-oh-seven” trend and see if it catches on (or maybe “twenty-aught-seven”).
1
A few days ago
That phlatulent_phrog’s a funny guy; I’d like to tell him so at one of his open questions, but I see he’s croaked out 5000 answers and two (resolved) questions….
Anyway, hooray for 2000. People of a certain age had been anticipating “the year 2000” for decades, and then it was usurped by “Y2K” thanks to COMPUTER USERS. And Y2K was feared to be a bad thing, a really bad thing. But the millenium was beautiful … and 2000 has been restored to us. (Does anyone refer to 2000 as Y2K anymore?)
I’d bet on 20-10 come then, and that the “20-” will stick, and that the first decade will come to be referred to as the 20-oh-whatevers. Which is fine by me. The decade will have come of age!
0
A few days ago
I really think people will say “20-10” once we get there….but “20-0-7” just sounds too awkward.
0
A few days ago
I always give the year as twenty-o-seven.
0
- Academic Writing
- Accounting
- Anthropology
- Article
- Blog
- Business
- Career
- Case Study
- Critical Thinking
- Culture
- Dissertation
- Education
- Education Questions
- Essay Tips
- Essay Writing
- Finance
- Free Essay Samples
- Free Essay Templates
- Free Essay Topics
- Health
- History
- Human Resources
- Law
- Literature
- Management
- Marketing
- Nursing
- other
- Politics
- Problem Solving
- Psychology
- Report
- Research Paper
- Review Writing
- Social Issues
- Speech Writing
- Term Paper
- Thesis Writing
- Writing Styles